Half a year ago: The European Council Fulfills Corrupt Battistelli's Alleged Promise, Making Christian Archambeau Head of EUIPO

Summary: Guest post about EPO nepotism, the second generation under António Campinos, whom Battistelli put in charge

On March 27, 2019, an announcement appeared on the European Patent Office (EPO) Intranet from the "Vice-President Corporate Services" informing staff about the appointment of a CIO and CTO in the new Business Information Technology (BIT) area.

Once upon a time in EPOnia, the Vice-President of DG4 had the title "Vice-President Administration" and instead of BIT there used to be something like "IT Services" until that also fell victim to the buzzword-of-the-month renaming craze. That was back in the good old days of yore before EPOnia had succumbed to the Battistelli-led "managerialist" coup d'état.

But enough of the nostalgia and let's get back to the story. The lucky appointees referred to in yesterday's "Corporate Services" announcement were named as Mr Diego Eguidazu Alonso (CIO) (profile in LinkedIn) and Mr Angel Aledo Lopez (CTO) (profile in LinkedIn).

Diego Eguidazu Alonso

On the face of it, it seems like just another non-story from a slow news day. But scratching below the surface reveals some interesting details which suggest that this may be part of a larger scale "entryist" operation by the Club Med/EUIPO faction.

The fact that both appointees have Spanish-sounding names is an interesting coincidence but it doesn't really take us very far. However, thanks to LinkedIn, it can be established that Mr Eguidazu worked at EUIPO (formerly OHIM) in Alicante for almost 17 years until he was parachuted into the EPO as "Director of Service Operations" in August 2018. In other words: shortly after the current EPO President had moved to Munich and was getting ready for his first appearance at the Oktoberfest.

Campinos in Oktoberfest 2018

Mr Aledo seems to be more publicity-shy. His LinkedIn page is minimalistic to say the least. It contains little or no information apart from an entry for "Deputy CIO European Patent Office" which seems to refer to his new appointment. There are no details about his previous experience.

"Once upon a time in EPOnia, the Vice-President of DG4 had the title "Vice-President Administration" and instead of BIT there used to be something like "IT Services" until that also fell victim to the buzzword-of-the-month renaming craze."To find out more about this, it may help to consult a recent edition of the official directory of the EU, dated 18 March 2019, which provides some vital clues as to what is going on here. On the pages listing details of EUIPO personnel we find the following:

Business Information Technology Department

Ms Niloofar SIMON Director Architecture and Planning

Mr Diego EGUIDAZU Head of Service Service "Applications Development and Maintenance"

Mr Raymond KLAASEN Head of Service Operations and Infrastructure

Mr Angel ALEDO Head of Service

The information contained in the "EU WhoIsWho" directory seems to be a bit stale.

"...scratching below the surface reveals some interesting details which suggest that this may be part of a larger scale "entryist" operation by the Club Med/EUIPO faction."Apparently, the EU administration dweebs who compile this directory haven't yet woken up to the fact that Ms Niloofar "Nellie" Simon has flown the coop to rejoin her former EUIPO boss on the 10th floor of the EPO Munich headquarters in the swish no-expense-spared luxury penthouse designed for its previous occupant by the prestigious a+p Architekten of Munich.

But even if the information in the EU directory is not up-to-date, it is still helpful for joining up the dots.

It seems that not only has Nellie the Elephant packed her trunk and said goodbye to the EUIPO circus in Alicante.

In the process of trundling off to the EPO jungle in Munich to hook up with the head of the herd, she has also managed to piggyback in most of the senior members of the EUIPO IT team.

It's a scenario reminiscent of the cover of Anthony Browne's "Piggybook", a children's storybook which has been translated into Portuguese by Isabelle Buratti.

The Buratti-Campinos romantic saga is a tale of its own which probably deserves coverage at a later date but, as they say, it's a story for another day.

"In the process of trundling off to the EPO jungle in Munich to hook up with the head of the herd, she has also managed to piggyback in most of the senior members of the EUIPO IT team."Looking at this carefully choreographed "entryist" operation, one has to feel sorry for poor old Raymond Klaasen who must be feeling lonely having been left "tout seul" looking after the EUIPO IT ranch down in Alicante.

Let's hope that the EUIPO's IT systems don't suffer a breakdown after such a massive haemmorhaging of talent. Otherwise someone might have to face the music and dance a last waltz as recently happened at the Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial (INPI) in Portugal. Reliable sources in Lisbon report the downfall of the delightful Maria Leonor Mendes da Trindade, who inherited the mantle of Campinos as director of the Lusitanian INPI and was one of Battistelli's dutiful Club Med chinchillas on the EPO Administrative Council. Apparently Ms Mendes da Trindade and her deputy Marco Dinis were obliged to fall on their swords following a serious IT system malfunction which occurred over a prolonged period during last summer's heatwave in the Portuguese capital. We plan to revisit this rather tragic "conte cruel" in more detail in the not-too-distant future and hopefully look into further shenanigans at the INPI in Lisbon, some of it dating back to the days when the current monarch of EPOnia held sway there.

For EPO insiders, the latest daring "entryist" escapade at the EPO awakens memories of Battistelli's wholesale importation of former INPI personnel and cronies including René Kraft, as reported by Techrights back in 2015.

"For EPO insiders, the latest daring "entryist" escapade at the EPO awakens memories of Battistelli's wholesale importation of former INPI personnel and cronies..."According to Mr Kraft's LinkedIn profile, he previously worked with Informatique CDC, an IT provider which has close links to the French INPI.

Informatique CDC has hit the headlines in the past, amongst other things for its questionable labour practices and breaches of French sub-contracting law (so-called "délit de marchandage") [1, 2].

In the meantime, poor old Mr Kraft seems to have been swept aside by the recent Club Med/EUIPO influx of "new bloods". According to insiders, he has ended up being parked on the sidelines as a "Principal Advisor for IT Matters". As they say in the land of EPOnia, you'd better be careful if you get "honored" with a fancy job title because more often than not it's an advance warning that you are being lined up for the long drop...

And so today's tall tale draws to its close but make sure to stay tuned because some more entertaining anecdotes from the land of EPOnia are in the pipeline and are planned to hit the presses soon. ⬆